


And It's Like the Sky is New

by roseandheather



Category: Code Black (TV)
Genre: F/M, Fluff, Future Fic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-01-19
Updated: 2016-01-19
Packaged: 2018-05-15 00:29:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 696
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/5764765
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roseandheather/pseuds/roseandheather
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In which Neal is very confused, Christa sets him straight, the residents (sort of) go their separate ways, and fluff is had.</p>
            </blockquote>





	And It's Like the Sky is New

"I hear congratulations are in order."

Christa looks up at him, beaming. "Yeah! I'm so excited, I can't even tell you." Her face falls, eyes going big and wounded, and he tries to school the disappointment from his own face but knows he's failing. "You don't like it?"

Somehow, he forces a smile. "Of course I do. Miami will be lucky to have you."

Christa blinks, then shakes her head. "What are you _talking_ about?"

Now he's the one blinking. "I heard about your offer from Miami Trauma - "

Understanding flashes in Christa's eyes, followed swiftly by anger. "Which I turned down flat!" she barks, and catches herself against the balcony railing, breathing hard.

Slowly, so achingly slowly, hope begins to bloom.

More gently now, she looks him in the eyes. "I'm staying here, Neal. Dr Taylor asked me, only two hours ago, and I said yes."

"You said yes?"

"Have you temporarily gone deaf?" she demands. "Of course I said yes, you _idiot!_ One of us had to stay!"

"Christa, _what is going on?_ "

She stares at him. "Dear God, sometimes you really are a moron." Impatiently she pushes him onto the nearest bench, then plops ungracefully (to the extent that Christa Lorenson ever does anything ungracefully) down beside him. "Here's the dirt, since you appear to have tangled up what little information you do have. Malaya is going to County General in Chicago - she wants to get away from the constant memories of Carla, and I can't blame her. _Angus and Mario_ are going to Miami Trauma - Mario for the beaches and Angus to keep him out of trouble, or so the story goes. And I'm staying bloody well put."

Slowly, he shakes his head. "Christa, nothing should hold you back from the career you deserve! You are a _brilliant_ doctor, you could have your pick of jobs - "

"I did," she says bluntly, her eyes beginning to fill with tears now. "I did, and I made my choice. Don't you get it, Neal? When I'm here, I'm _home._ I'm not staying because of you, though that's inducement enough in itself, thank you. I'm staying because for the first time since I lost my little boy I feel like I _belong._ "

"Christa." He knows the tears are choking his voice, and he doesn't care. "You have to know by now I'm in love with you."

Her breath catches, and fumblingly she reaches out to take his hand in hers. "I'd hoped," she admits, her eyes glued to the floor. "But you've been so damn _British -_ "

"And I'm sorry." He catches her chin, makes her look at him. "I'm so sorry, Christa, because you deserve more than that." Shyly, he smiles, the soft blooming grin that only ever seems to come out around her. "'If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more.'"

And then she's smiling too, bright and beaming and beautiful, and the tears are spilling down her cheeks. "Damn it," she whispers at last. "Damn it, Neal, you might just be perfect."

"Hardly." Gently he strokes his thumb over her knuckles. "But I hope I'm perfect for you."

"Yeah," she whispers. "Yeah, you are - "

And then his mouth is on hers, and the world goes away.

The kiss breaks only when their pagers go off, nearly simultaneously. She groans, and he just laughs, resting his forehead against hers. "Back to work," he whispers, and she grins, stealing one last, quick kiss from his lips.

As they split in the corridor, her in one direction, him in the other, he turns to walk backward and calls after her.

"Christa?"

"Yeah?"

"Is it too soon for me to ask you to marry me?"

She stops dead and stares at him, gaping, for thirty endless seconds.

Then - _Oh, God how I love her,_ he thinks - she just laughs, joyous and carefree. "Oh yeah."

His face doesn't even have time to fall before she adds, "Give it a few hours, honestly!"

So he takes the span of corridor between them at a run and kisses her, hard, fast and full of promise.

And when he leaves her then, his face hurts from smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> The reference to County General is, of course, a shout-out to the groundbreaking and incomparable _ER_ , in whose debt all medical dramas live on a weekly basis.
> 
> Miami Trauma, meanwhile, is a shout-out to the almost-equally-brilliant but criminally underrated (and far too good to last) _Miami Medical_ , starring the delectable Jeremy Northam and Her Majesty Queen Lana Parrilla, which aired in 2010. (And yes, that was implied Mario/Angus you spied.)
> 
> Finally, Neal quotes Jane Austen's _Emma_ to Christa ("If I loved you less I might be able to talk about it more"), because we all know that Christa Lorenson is a hopeless romantic of the first order and also quite probably an Austen fan.


End file.
